A businessman from Charlotte, N.C., has paid $21,000 for a short letter written by a 17-year-old Hank Aaron , in which he informed the owner of a Negro League baseball team that his parents approved of him joining the team.

The Charlotte Observer reported Sunday that Jeffrey Gitomer outbid several others, including the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, for the letter at a sports auction outside Philadelphia.

The seven-line letter is dated Nov. 22, 1951, from Mobile, Ala., and written to Syd Pollack , then the owner of the Indianapolis Clowns.

The letter is part of a sports memorabilia collection owned by the 62-year-old Gitomer that consists mostly of one-of-a-kind items, including jerseys, balls, programs and photos.

Auction house owner David Hunt had estimated the letter's value at $3,000 to $4,000.

College Football

Louisville receiver Spillman dismissed

In Louisville wide receiver JaJuan Spillman has been banished from the team after his second arrest in 18 months.

Coach Steve Kragthorpe announced the dismissal Sunday, three days after Spillman was arrested on charges of driving under the influence, carrying a concealed weapon and having no insurance.

Kragthorpe said Spillman will not have an opportunity to return to the program.

Spillman, 21, pleaded guilty in June to marijuana possession stemming from his arrest on Jan. 31, 2007.

NBA

Top two draft picks will face off today

In Miami, Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley will be forever linked. That's an inevitability for players who get chosen No. 1 and No. 2 in the NBA Draft.

So on some level, it's fitting their first pro game -- one that won't have fans, won't count in standings and likely will be long forgotten in a few days -- will pit them against each other.

Rose's Chicago Bulls will face Beasley's Miami Heat today, one of three games on the opening day of the Orlando summer league's weeklong schedule.

For a meaningless matchup, there's an abundance of big-game hype.

Rose, the No. 1 selection in June's draft, will be running the Bulls' offense from the point guard spot. Beasley, the No. 2 choice by Miami, will be posting up against the likes of Chicago big men Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas .

Rowing

Pair set for Beijing after win at Henley

In Henley-on-Thames, England, Wesley Piermarini and Elliot Hovey got a strong tune-up for Beijing, winning the Double Sculls Challenge on the final day of the Henley Royal Regatta.

The pair from the California Rowing Club in Oakland beat Peter Graves and Thomas Graves ,of Bantam Boat Club in Cincinnati, by 11/4 lengths.

In the final of the Grand Challenge Cup for international eights, the event's most prestigious race, the University of Southern California, with six members of the Estonian national eight aboard, lost to Canada's Victoria City and Kingston by two lengths.